How Do You Like Me Now?
by kage kitsune 14
Summary: Adopted from awesomosityrox. A dead man shows up, and Alex's life is turned upside down. Scorpia attacks Brooklands, and MI6 threatens to destroy Alex's loved ones forever.
1. More Rumors

**How Do You Like Me Now?**

**Adopted from awesomosityrox**

**By kage kitsune 14  
**

**Chapter One: More Rumors**

Alex trudged almost lazily up the concrete steps to the door of his school that had peeling green paint. The school was getting old. And even though it was a very respectable public school it was starting to lack funds to keep it up to snuff.

He sighed, shaking himself out of his thoughts. Another day in his second hell on earth- school. His first hell on earth was, of course, Brecon Breacons, Wales. He braced himself for another day of reciting unbelievable excuses and listening to his classmates insults and slurs.

He reached up to touch the tip of his new scar. It stretched from the left juncture of his neck and shoulder to his right hip, handiwork of a rather sadistic Scorpia assassin. The scar was pink, which contrasted against his normal skin tone, quite a lot. As he stepped into the filled hallway, he could feel all eyes switch to him. And then, as if practiced, the whole school erupted into calls, shouts and whispers.

"Look at Druggie's neck!"

"What did he do this time?"

"I bet he was in a gang fight!"

"Nah, the cops probably busted him up when they arrested him."

"He's so hot and dangerous!"

"Quiet! I'm your boyfriend, remember! You can't go around calling other guys hot and dangerous!"

Alex felt his face contort into a grimace. "Welcome to my world." He growled to himself under his breath. He made his way to the front office. He fixed a smile onto his face and handed his doctor's slip to Mrs. Bedfordshire.

She looked up at him with a fond smile. "What happened this time dear?" She had always had a soft spot for Alex.

"I got sick and then a stray dog scratched me." He had memorized the excuse after he first got it. He found it was easier to lie if he practiced beforehand.

Her eyebrows shot up into her hairline. "Some dog. You just don't have any luck do you, Alex?"

He chuckled ruefully. He had the devil's luck. The bad luck to get in the bad situations, and the good luck to get himself out. He replied simply "You have no idea."

She glanced at him with a curious look. "Well, enjoy your day dear. And do stay out of trouble!"

"Trouble doesn't really give me a choice." He muttered to himself as the door of the office closed behind him. He made his way to his first class of the day, Spanish. He didn't really even need to take the class. He was fluent.

"Hola Alex. ¿Cómo es usted?" (Hello Alex. How are you?)

"Muy bien, gracias.." (Fine, thank you.)

"¿Cuál era este vez?" (What was it this time?)

"Oh! Un perro me mordió y era enfermo." (Oh! A dog bit me... and I was sick.)

"Oh." She let the subject drop. He took his seat beside his one friend he still had in school, Tom Harris.

Tom Harris was shorter than all the other kids in school and it had made him a prime target for bullies. That was how Alex became Tom's friend. He had taken care of the bullies for Tom and they had been friends ever since.

His attention was drawn towards the front once more when Senora spoke.

"¡Clase de la atención! Estamos pasando pronombres hoy. Hay una prueba el viernes, él vale veinte por ciento de su grado cuarto así que se cerciora de usted estudio." (Attention class! We are going over pronouns today. There is a test on Friday, it's worth twenty percent of your quarter grade so make sure you study.) She announced loudly to speak over the last few students still talking. Numerous groans sounded as soon as the announcement came and then the class commenced.

**A/n: Okay first chapter of the rewritten How Do You Like Me Now. The original was by awesomosityrox. So credit for the idea goes to her. I've rewritten some, expanded some. So tell me what you think.**


	2. Scorpia Attacks

**How Do You Like Me Now?**

**Adopted from awesomosityrox**

**By kage kitsune 14**

**Chapter Two: Scorpia Attacks**

They were half way through class when the intercom crackled to life. An eerie emotionless voice came over the air.

"I need all teachers, students, and faculty to gather in the auditorium for a surprise assembly. You will see armed men in the hallways. They are here to harm you if you get out of line. If you try to escape or call for help, you will be shot. And blood is so hard to clean up. Do be kind and stay in line. Thank you."

Alex groaned as everyone in the room (save him and the teacher, Senora Gonzalez) erupted in shrieks and screams of fright. Alex pulled the hood of his hoodie up and slid on a pair of black sunglasses. He fingered the small Ruger LCP 380 Ultra Compact Pistol that had been modified by Smithers to hold 12 rounds, twice as many as it normally would hold. He also made sure the three knives he had were still in the same place they had been before.

A man holding a Uzi Submachine Gun and wearing black clothes burst into the room and yelled at everyone to "shut up!".

The noise stopped instantly. No one wanted to make the man holding the gun angry.

"Now everyone get in a nice, straight line so I can escort you into the auditorium." The man said turning to face the other way revealing his bullet proof vest which had a silver scorpion emblazoned on it. Alex shuddered and suddenly felt very, very sick. And a lot less confident in his gun and knives. He leaned over the trash can and threw up.

One of the boys who liked making Alex's life miserable laughed. "Eww. Druggie!" The Scorpia man whacked the boy in the back of the head with the stock of his gun. He then yanked Alex into the line roughly. Alex knew that everyone who knew of his job expected him to be a fearless teenage super-spy, but at the sight of the silver scorpion, a cold knife of pain and fear was thrust into his very soul.

The class slipped into the auditorium and sat down in the cold metal chairs set out for them. Alex assessed the situation and quickly gathered that the man on the stage was in charge. Armed guards lined the room. And a tall, blonde haired, blue eyed man stood behind the man on stage. In fact, the man looked strangely like...

But it wasn't possible.

"Oh god. You're supposed to be dead." Alex muttered to himself, feeling like he was very close to throwing up again. He had watched the man die. He had saw him get hit in the chest twice, at close range. He had seen him close his eyes as he bled out...

The assassin stepped forward and whispered something in his boss' ear, gesturing vaguely around the room to indicate that everyone was there. The boss nodded and stepped forward to the microphone.

"Good morning, everyone. I would like to inform you that you will all be killed if Alex Rider does not step forward within the next thirty seconds..."

Frantic whispers flew around the room. One stupid, idiotic boy stepped forward.

"What do you want with Druggie?"

Even from this distance, Alex could see Yassen stiffen. The assassin stepped forward and pushed his boss away from the microphone.

"Alex Rider is no druggie." He said his voice as cold as the arctic in his anger.

"Mr. Gregorovich, please!" the boss said, stepping forward to reclaim the mic. "You call this boy druggie? How funny. Obviously, Rider has not been considerate enough to tell you who he really is. Perhaps I should enlighten you."

"No." Alex called out calmly, standing up. His voice carried clearly over the now silent heads of his schoolmates.

"Ah, Alex, how nice of you to join us. Would you mind coming up here?" He said, it was clearly an order not a suggestion.

"I'm fine here, thanks." Alex said pressing the button to summon back up from MI6, surreptitiously while they were busy watching his face.

"It wasn't a request, Alex." He replied icily.

"Then don't phrase it like one." Alex muttered mutinously under his breath as he walked up to the stage at a leisurely pace. He stood below it and looked coldly up at the man, ignoring Yassen completely. The assassin gently (or as gently as you can perform this action) leaned down to grasp Alex's collar, hauling him up onto the stage. As soon as his feet hit the stage he shook the man's grip off of him, disgusted.

"You told me to find Scorpia. I found them. You can tell it was a good idea right?" Alex hissed in Russian angrily. He had learned the language as a sort of tribute to the man he thought had died to protect him. Yassen tied Alex's hands behind his back and pressed his gun softly into the back of the teenager's neck.

"I'm sorry, little Alex." Yassen answered sincerely in the same language.

The boss man glanced sharply at Yassen before turning to face the audience again. Apparently he understood Russian.

"My name is Tyler Hull. You may address me as Mr. Hull. Or, if you have a death wish, Tyler. I will now allow Alex to tell you about his job, his family, and the crimes he has committed." He said. Hull grabbed Alex by the front of his shirt and roughly pulled him towards the microphone.

"What makes you think that I will willing tell the entire school about myself?"

"Oh I never said you were going to do it willingly! That would be too much to ask! In fact, I have high hopes of you doing it UNwillingly! You see, if you do not tell your little friends all about yourself, I will put a bullet through this little girl's head." He gestured vaguely to a child being held at gun point by a guard. "Then if you still refuse, we will work our way through the entire student body."

One glance and Alex had already decided. "Fine." he grunted. He shoved Hull away from the microphone and opened his mouth.

**A/n: Cliffie! Mwhahahahaha *cough*. Alright review please!**


	3. Alex's Tell All Tells Nothing

**How Do You Like Me Now?**

**Adopted from awesomosityrox**

**By kage kitsune 14**

**Chapter Three: Alex 's Tell All Tells Nothing**

He opened his mouth to speak, then without warning spun around pulling out his pistol in one smooth motion and shot Tyler Hull in the knee, which caused him to collapse to the ground. He then whipped the gun around and shot once more hitting the guard (the one holding the girl) in the head. He shot (and killed) five more guards before one of the Scorpia agents managed to knock his gun out of his hand. He began using his hand-to-hand combat skills to knock out the other Scorpia members.

He felt more than saw someone behind him, having his back and turned to look. He watched Yassen Gregorovich slash at more Scorpia agents with two double edged blades. Alex felt his jaw drop. He never expected Yassen to defend him. Yassen turned and threw one of his blades over Alex's head. Alex turned and watched in surprise as the blade hit the heart of a man who had been aiming a gun at Alex's head. Alex quickly snapped out of his daze and grabbed the dead man's gun and shot another guard with it. He then stole that man's gun too.

"Yassen." Alex called quietly offering the second stolen gun to the assassin. Yassen nodded in thanks, accepting the gun.

The fight was soon over leaving Alex and Yassen standing in a pool of shed blood and corpses of unfortunate Scorpia agents. Alex glanced up to see his class eerily silent and staring in awe and fear.

Just then about fifty armed soldiers burst into the room, sensed no danger, and moved to surround the perimeter of the room. The children started screaming again. An old man wearing a gray suit walked up to the podium.

"Silence." He ordered demandingly into the microphone. The noise cut off. "Please return to your classrooms. A guard will escort each class. You will stay there until you receive further instructions." His tone brooked no arguments.

After all of the school children had returned to their classrooms the man stepped away from the podium and walked toward Alex. "I apologize for our less than par performance protecting your life, Mr. Rider."

"Blunt." Alex acknowledged sourly.

Blunt then noticed Yassen standing behind Alex. The soldiers noticed him at exactly the same time. They rushed forward and surrounded the assassin with guns drawn shoving Alex and the head of MI6 to the ground.

Alex scrambled to his feet and shoved his way to the middle of the circle and stood by Yassen glaring out at the men surrounding them.

**A/n: I updated again. =D. Review please and tell me what you think. I can't wait to read reviews. They really give me a reason to continue. Even a smiley symbol works...**


	4. Protect it With Both Hands

**How Do You Like Me Now?**

**Adopted from awesomosityrox**

**By kage kitsune 14**

**Chapter Four: Protect it With Both Hands**

"Oi! Fuck off you lot!" Alex shouted indignantly. "You're pointing guns at the man that just saved the life of Britain's best secret weapon!"

Blunt spoke from the protected space behind the circle of soldiers. "Alex, you do realize that you're defending the assassin who killed you uncle, works for Scorpia and just attacked your school."

"Piss off, Blunt. If you want him you'll have to get through me first." He shifted into a defensive stance.

"Alex please consider the situat-" Blunt began. Alex cut him off.

"No Blunt. Why don't you consider the situation? You either let him go and keep your best field agent, and save it I know how important I am, or you capture the assassin and lose the only known agent to have defeated Scorpia multiple times and survive."

Blunt's eyes glinted with malice.

Alex turned his glare to the soldiers surrounding them. He recognized several of them from his time in Brecon.

The first man was burly, with dark hair cropped short and a nose that was slightly off center from being broken before. His cold dark brown eyes were set in a glare at Yassen.

"Wolf?" He asked.

"Sorry Alex. He's an assassin." He shook his head, refusing to budge.

The next man was taller, and younger than most of the others, his hair was a medium brown and his eyes were blue. His face was set in a mask of seriousness.

"Eagle?"

"'Fraid not Cub. Sorry."

The last man he appealed to was Scottish. His hair was blonde and he was lithe. His eyes were shards of ice.

"Snake? Any of you?"

"Not this time kid. Sorry." Snake said his accent coming out thicker than normal at the stress and guilt he was feeling. He owed the damn kid, and here he was siding against him...

The other soldiers grunted in agreement.

**A/n: Anyone know where the title came from? I'll give you a hint, it's from an anime that I enjoy. Good luck guessing. I'll give people a little while to guess so the next update won't be for a while, or until I get a few reviews that have the answer or their guesses.**


	5. Letting Go, Not Letting Go

**How Do You Like Me Now?**

**Adopted from awesomosityrox**

**By kage kitsune 14**

**Chapter Five: Letting Go, Not Letting Go**

Alex felt a comforting hand on his shoulder. He turned to look at the impassive face of Yassen Gregorovich. Yassen's eyes were the only part of him that revealed any emotion, they carried small traces of sadness, defeat, and acceptance. He accepted that he was trapped this time and he wouldn't be able to fight his way out of this one.

"Go Alex. I will be fine. Don't worry about me. I can take care of myself." He whispered to Alex quietly in Russian so no one else would hear him.

"But-" Alex protested in the same language.

"Please go Alex. I don't want you in trouble because of me." He insisted quietly, still speaking in Russian.

Alex's shoulders sunk as he realized he was incapable of helping. "I'll get you out. One way or another. Good-bye, for now." Alex swore softly.

Yassen patted Alex on the back comfortingly before lightly shoving him out of the circle of soldiers.

"Good-bye, little Alex. For now." He acknowledged Alex's promise as he felt his eyes mist slightly. Tears he would never allow to leave.

Alex felt a tear slid out of his own eye. It went unknown to all but himself and Yassen who had been watching Alex closely.

Alex watched as Yassen was forcefully restricted. His wrist were bound behind his back using plastic zip tie cuffs. Then he was searched for weapons and dragged out the gym door to one of MI6's usual cars. Alex watched through the window sadly as Yassen was led away.

Then Wolf and Leopard (Ben's replacement) escorted Alex back to his Spanish class. He sat through class trying and failing to ignore the eyes glaring holes in his back. Alex's whole body ached with heartache. They had taken Yassen away, the whole school knew his secret to some degree, and his life was ruined. At least, more ruined than it had been previously-something he hadn't even believed possible before.

The school days dragged on until after lunch on the Friday following the incident, as Alex was opening his French textbook to page 109, a tall man dressed in dark wash jeans and a black button down shirt walked into the room.

"I'm here to collect Alex Rider." He stated firmly.

Alex stood and walked to the front of the room.

"Name." Alex demanded suspiciously.

The man look startled by the level of authority and the boy's voice.

"Eh...Turner. Collin Turner." He answered hesitantly.

Alex nodded filing the name away for future reference.

"Level of clearance." the same demanding tone in his voice.

The man blinked. He was a child. Why was he acting like he was an experienced adult? "S-seven." He managed to stutter out after a couple dumbfounded seconds.

"Right. I'm Rider. Where to?"

"If you just follow me to the car..." Turner stated leading Alex out of the room then out of the school itself.

**A/n: Okay so I combined chapter 5 and 6 of the previous story. Something I was adverse to do. I wanted to keep it as close to the original in the first few chapters as possible then branch off when I get to the last chapter. But as someone pointed out the chapters are really small. **

**Anyway, BlackKristin was absolutely right when he/she said that the quote is from Naruto. It's something Kaiza said to Inari. He said when you found something precious to you, you have to protect it with everything you have: protect it with both hands/both arms. **

**So review. And I might update faster. Just might though, I'm starting college in about two weeks so it's getting really hectic. Anyway review please!**


	6. Where Loyalties Lay

**How Do You Like Me Now?**

**Adopted from awesomosityrox**

**By kage kitsune 14**

**Chapter Six: Where Loyalties Lay**

Twenty minutes later Alex sat erect on the uncomfortable wooden chair across from Alan Blunt's desk in his office at the Royal & General bank, the cover for the headquarters of MI6.

Blunt and Jones gazed silently at him across from him.

"Alex, I'm going to cut to the chase. Mr. Blunt and I are concerned about you actions earlier this week."

Blunt stood up setting his hands firmly on his desk shoulder width apart.

"Frankly, Alex, I'm not sure where your loyalties lie anymore."

Alex looked away his brow furrowed. It's not like they had ever gave a damn before. They snatched him up from his normal life, blackmailed him, then sent him on a dangerous mission and returned him months later with only a very flimsy doctors excuse to fend off his school mates.

Jones and Blunt shared a look.

Mrs. Jones moved around the desk and set a hand on Alex's shoulder. He tensed up almost unnoticeably. It was an instinct honed by repeated attacks on his person.

"We understand that you don't particularly 'trust' or 'like' us. We have arranged a therapy session for you." Jones stated, and you could practically hear the quotation marks around trust and like.

Alex jerked away glaring at them. They didn't give a damn earlier when he actually could've used counseling. Like when he was suffering from the memories of being stuffed in a tank with a dangerous jelly fish called a man-of-war; when he was suffering from the memories of nearly being dissected alive; or when he saw Sarov blow his brains out; when he saw Yassen 'die'; after he had training by Scorpia; when he had nearly been killed in space; or when he had nearly been killed by his own Godfather; when he had nearly been eaten by crocodiles. All of those times therapy would've been okay, even welcome. But now when he tried to defend someone he trusted he was treated like a delusional mad man that needed watching.

"Funny. I don't remember signing up to see a shrink." Alex snapped.

"Well, I wouldn't really call myself a shrink, Alex!" a familiar male voice stated from behind Alex. Alex spun around and came face to face with Ben Daniels.

"Ben!" Alex greeted eagerly clapping the older man on his back.

Ben gazed warmly at the young spy. He then cleared his throat. "I'm here so that you can, um, hold on." Ben started then mumbled before pulling out a crumbled piece of paper. He opened in and then read directly from the letter. "I'm here so you can 'talk it out'."

Alex raised an eyebrow at this and Ben shrugged almost helplessly.

Blunt and Jones vacated the area to give them 'time to talk'.

Ben and Alex sat down in chairs opposite of each other.

Ben coughed shifting uncomfortably. "Um... so...I understand you, well, defended, erm, an, ehm, erk...a, ah..."

"Assassin." Alex finished for him sounding very blunt, his eyes glittering slightly.

"Yes!" Ben burst out, sounding relieved he didn't have to finish the sentence.

Alex nodded briskly. "I did defend him."

"Would you care to explain why?"

Alex shrugged. "He saved my life, and did nothing wrong. I owed him. I still owe him."

Ben's brow furrowed. "He saved you?" He tried the words out feeling that they didn't belong together in that order.

"Yes." Alex ground out, his eyes flashing in anger. Why could no one believe Alex when he told them Yassen saved him?

"Why?"

Alex stiffened. He didn't want to bring up the fact that his father was an undercover agent who had taught Yassen everything he knew about assassination. "I don't know." He lied.

"Are you sure?" Ben asked blinking in bemusement.

Alex stood angrily. He ran his hands through his short shaggy hair and paced the length of the room several times and then turned to him. "What clearance do you have?" he finally asked.

"2." Ben answered simply. The clearance levels went from one to twelve. The higher the number the lower the clearance. Ben had the same clearance level as Alex. Most likely because he would need it for whatever Alex could tell him.

"My father was a spy for MI6 when he was alive. One of his missions sent him deep undercover, as a Scorpia assassin. Eventually I was born and my father wanted out. They set it up to look like a kidnapping. But then Scorpia kidnapped an important government official's son. They set it up to look like a normal trade. But my father was wearing a bullet proof vest with blood pouches sewn in. Jones gave the order to shoot and my dad went down looking like he was dead." Alex paused to take a huge breath.

"Dad's protege was Yassen Gregorovich. He taught him as best he could in the assassination field. He even saved Yassen's life when a black widow crawled onto his neck. One bullet to save a life and take a life. That's where Yassen got the scar on his neck from. Yassen didn't know my dad was a spy thus believed that MI6 had killed him. That's why he didn't kill me any of the times he's had the chance, and why he saved me, several times in fact."

Ben looked completely dumbfounded.

"But doesn't he know that your father wasn't a Scorpia operative by now?" He finally asked.

"Most likely." Alex nodded.

"Why is he still protecting you then?"

Alex ran a hand through his messy hair. "I don't know." he finally admitted.

"Well Alex, would you like to ask him yourself?" Blunt had entered the room silently just as he answered Ben's question.

"What?" Alex asked his face wiped of all expression.

"You, Alex, are going to help with the interrogation of Yassen Gregorovich.

**A/n: Okay this is another combined chapter. There was one review I would like to answer to in particular. **

**The coward, whoever he or she is, didn't even bother to login so I could answer via PM. "Phoenix" claims that my chapters are the same as the first story, which isn't true and he/she obviously didn't take the time to compare them. He/she didn't even bother to read past chapter one, which I admit is probably the most similar to the original but not the same.**

**And for everyone else who actually reads my story all the way through and is supportive enough to review, I thank you. And I'm sorry you had to listen to me scold an idiot. **

**Please review.**


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